A Ranger in the Clans
by With-the-Wolves
Summary: When Will and Horace find themselves in the Clan's territories, will they be able to put aside their differences in order to get back to Redmont, or will their rivalry eventually lead to a war in the clans? PLease R&R!
1. Allegiances

**First ever Ranger's Apprentice/Warriors fanfic! Woot! So, umm..yeah..This chapter is just the ThunderClan allegiances. Not an actual chapter and not the other clans allegiances. Why? Well, for a Warriors-based fanfic, you need allegiances, but I was too lazy to write out all of the other Clans...You'll figure it out. By the way, this story is before Will becomes a ranger apprentice and it is also well after the war with the dark forest. So, umm...I kinda just guessed on who has died since then..so...:) I also killed Lionblaze. I know, I'm heartless...**

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><p><strong>Allegiances<strong>

**ThunderClan**

**Leader: **Cinderstar-gray tabby she-cat

**Deputy: **Dovewing-pale gray she-cat with blue eyes

**Medicine Cat: **Jayfeather-gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes  
>(Apprentice: Tideheart-Silver she-cat with blue eyes)<p>

**Warriors:  
><strong>Whitewing-white she-cat with green eyes  
>Mousewhisker-gray-and-white tom<br>(Apprentice: Badgerpaw)  
>Foxleap-reddish tabby tom<br>Toadstep-black-and-white tom  
>Bumblestripe-very pale gray tom with black stripes<br>Cherrystripe-ginger she-cat  
>(Apprentice: Swiftpaw)<br>Molefur-brown-and-cream tom  
>(Apprentice: Thrushpaw)<br>Flameheart-bright red she-cat  
>Grayfur-dark gray tom<p>

**Queens:**

Ivypool-silver-and-white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

**Apprentices:**

Swiftpaw-orange she-cat with icy blue eyes  
>Badgerpaw-black-and-white tabby tom with dark yellow eyes<br>Sunpaw-yellow-orange tom with green eyes

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><p><strong>So there you have it!<strong>


	2. Prologue

**Prologue-ish thingy! Yay!**

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><p>Will ran through the forest, unable to lose his pursuer. His breath was coming in short gasps, and he knew that he would soon be forced to stop. HIs broken arm hung limply at his side, stopping him from climbing on of the many trees.<p>

Will was tiring quickly and he knew that thepursuer would almost be upon him. He briefly considered stopping, but quickly rebuked the idea. Stopping would just be downright stupid! But he would be forced to stop soon, just to breathe.

Then, he saw the pool. It was dark enough that the pursuer wouldn't see him, and it was shallow enough that Will wouldn't drown. It was perfect!

In the brief seconds that he had slowed down, however, his pursuer had caught him. "Will! The pursuer yelled.

Will smiled nervously, knowing that he was caught. "Horace.." He said, addressing the pursuer.

Horace narrowed his eyes. "Why do you insist on running?"

"Why do you insist on chasing me?" He countered.

There was a splash, followed by a laugh. "Is that really the best you can do?" Will asked, soaking wet. He wondered about why he was being so bold. Probably the medicine that the nurse insisted on giving him. It was probably getting into his head.

Horace roared and jumped on top of Will, pushing him into the water. They were both submerged for a moment before everything disappeared.

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><p><strong>P.S. That pool was THe MOONPOOL! Yeah. Now Review! If you do, I'll review one of your stories! <strong>


	3. Chapter 1

**It's 10:20 in the evening! Yay for staying up late! :p**

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><p>Will woke up on the edge of a large forest. He had a massive headache, and his arm hurt. He realized that his cast was gone. He looked down at his arm, and let out a little yelp.<p>

His arm was gone! In it's place was a slender, black leg with a paw at the end. "What the heck...?" Will whispered to himself. Slowly, he walked over to a small puddle, dreading what he would see in the surface.

He found himself looking into the amber eyes of a solid black cat.

_I'm dreaming. _He thought. _When Horace pushed me in, I blacked out somehow._ He looked around. _This is really detailed for a dream. _

Then something barreled into him, knocking the breath out of him and knocking him completely off his feet. He let out a small whimper as he landed on his broken, er..leg.

His attacker landed on top of him. He heard a voice say, "You thought you could trespass on ThunderClan territory? Well you were-" The voice stopped suddenly, realizing that Will had gone limp. Will felt a paw prod him. "You aren't de-" The voice was cut off by a loud squeal as Will threw the cat off of him.

The cat was orange, with icy blue eyes that seemed to bore into him. She shook herself as she got to her feet. "That was pretty good." She said. "For a rogue."

"Who are you?" He asked. The cat had mentioned something called, 'ThunderClan.' What was that?

"Hey, this is _my_ territory. You'll tell me who you are first." She said.

"Fine." He said. "I'm Will."

The cat let out a little _mrrow _of laughter. "What kind of a name is that?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter. I told you who I am. You tell me who you are."

She was still giggling. "I'm Swiftpaw." She said matter-of-factly.

"You make fun of my name, while you have a name like _Swiftpaw_?" He asked, trying to get to his feet. He found he couldn't put any weight on his broken leg.

Swiftpaw noticed for the first time Will's hurt leg. "Oh my gosh!" She said. "Your leg is like, broken! You should come back to camp with me! Jayfeather, our medicine cat, will fix your leg right up! HE's blind, but he has really good senses. Not as good as Dovewing's, though. Dovewing's senses are amazing. I bet she can hear us from here!" Swiftpaw gasped. "She can hear us here! What if she's listening to us right now? What if she knows that I snuck out of camp? I'll be in so much trouble..." Swiftpaw trailed off as she looked anxiously toward Will.

Will blinked. He didn't think that it was possible for anyone to say so much in so little time.

"You're hurt, though. I have to help you." Swiftpaw nodded, as if it was decided. She turned around and started walking in the other direction. After she had taken about ten steps, she turned back to Will. "Are you coming?" She asked.

Will decided quickly and nodded to the bright orange cat. He painfully got to his feet and limped after her.


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2! I'm currently driving through the Texas Hill country. Going to Enchanted Rock! **

**By the way, I know how I mentioned that it was pre-apprenticeship? It isn't. It's just before the wild hog incident. So Will and Horace are still enemies. Just thought I'd tell you that.**

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><p>Swiftpaw stopped suddenly and turned to Will. "You should probably just stay here. I don't want to alarm anyone."<p>

Will tried to raise an eyebrow at here, but failed as he realized that cats couldn'y manage that facial expression. "Are you sure you just don't want to get into trouble?" He asked.

Swiftpaw sighed. "Fine. That is, sorta what I'm doing. But, also, if you come into camp, some cats might think you're a threat and attack you...But Tideheart won't! I'm going to go get her!"

"I thought you said that Jayfeather was the medicine cat." Will said, uncertainly.

"Yeah, but Tideheart is his apprentice." Swiftpaw hesitated for a moment. "Well, she's fully trained, but she'll be Jayfeather's apprentice until he dies, which a lot of cats don't think will take very long." She looked around nervously, as if someone would hear her.

"Okay...So you'll get Tideheart?" Will asked.

Swiftpaw nodded. "Weren't you just listening?" THen she turned and started walking toward the camp. When she got to the entrance, she looked back at him. "If you hear cats coming, don't be stupid and stay out in theopen there. Be sure to hide."

Will flicked his tail.

Swiftpaw climbed into the camp, grateful that she had used the secret entrance. She made her way to the medicine den, hoping that no one had noticed her absence.

"Hey, Swiftpaw! Where've you been?" Came a voice behind her.

Swiftpaw sighed. She should've known that _someone _would notice. She turned to the cat. "I was trying to hunt, Badgerpaw."

"What did you catch?" He asked.

"Nothing. I couldn't find any prey, so I figured I should come back here."

"Why are you going to the medicine den?"

Switpaw rolled her eyes. Badgerpaw was so nosy! "I found a clump of herbs outside that I want to show to Tideheart." She said, choosing her words carefully.

"What did it look like? Tideheart was showing me some of the herbs yesterday, so I might know what it is!"

"I don't know!" She snapped. Badgerpaw was getting annoying. Without another word, she walked into the medicine den, inhaling the fragrant air. "Tideheart!" She called.

She saw the gray she-cat laying in her nest, fast asleep. She walked over and started prodding her with one paw. "Tideheart." She said. "Wake up."

Tideheart opened her eyes sleepily. Her eyes locked on Swiftpaw. "Why did you wake me up?"

Swiftpaw looked around for Jayfeather, and saw him snoring in his nest as well. She eyed Tideheart playfully. "You two were sleeping late this morning, I see."

Tideheart yawned. "We were up late last night treating Foxleap. Remember?"

"Oh yeah...Does he have whitecough?"

"No, thank StarClan. So why did you wake me up again?"

Swiftpaw took a deep breath."  
>-"<p>

Tideheart looked at her. "Can you slow down?"

Swiftpaw nodded. "I was walking through the forest when I saw this cat. I pounced on him because I was going to drive him off, but then I saw that he was hurt!"

"How bad did it look?" Tideheart asked, having figured out why Swiftpaw was there.

"It looked like it was broken." Swiftpaw said.

"Really?" Tideheart asked as she went into the herb store.

"Yeah. It was a limp and.." Swiftpaw trailed off and shivered.

Tideheart emerged with a bundle of herbs. "Where is he?"

"Right outside of the camp." Swiftpaw said.

"You made him walk all the way here?" Tidepaw asked.

"I shouldn't have done that?" Swiftpaw asked.

Tideheart sighed. "Just take me to him.

Will looked at the two cats as they emerged from the tunnel. He looked at Swiftpaw. "This is Tideheart?"

Swiftpaw nodded. "That's who I said I would bring." She said.

Tideheart walked up to him. "How does it feel?" She asked him as she sniffed his broken leg.

Will considered this for a moment. "Broken...?" He said.

Tideheart looked at him, making him feel stupid. She shook her head. "How did this happen?" She asked.

"I, er..Fell out of a tree." He told the truth, realizing how stupid it sounded for a cat to fall out of a tree.

Tideheart looked at him in a way that reminded him of Halt. He was slightly unnerved by this. "You fell...out of a tree." She stated. She shook her head again and mumbled something about how young cats were getting even more stupid as she set about treating the leg.

Swiftpaw heard her. "Hey! You're pretty young yourself, Tideheart."

Tideheart snorted. "Yeah, but I'm not an apprentice."

"Umm...Yeah you are." Swiftpaw said.

"At least I have enough sense to have earned my warrior name." Tideheart said with pride in her voice.

"I'm so confused." Will said.

Swifpaw turned to him and set about explaining. "There are four Clans. We're ThunderClan, the best one of all!"

"I bet the other three Clans would disagree, but.." Will interrupted.

Swiftpaw glared at him. "As I was saying, the other three are RiverClan, WindClan, and," She spat out the word, "ShadowClan. In the Clans, There are warriors, apprentices, queens, elders, a medicine cat, a deputy, and a leader. THe warriors are the ones who mainly protect the clan. The apprentices are the cats learning to be warriors, or, in Tideheart's case, to be medicine cat. The queens are she-cats who are nursing or expe cting kits. The elders are the warriors who are _really_ old and don't really do anything other than sit around, complain, and tell the younger cats stories that they don't really want to hear."

Tideheart flicked Swiftpaw with her tail. "You should respect your elders." She said.

"It's not like we have any!" Swiftpaw said.

"So you're an apprentice?" Will asked.

"Yep." Swiftpaw said. "Right now I'm Swiftpaw, but when I become a warrior, I'll be Swiftfur or Swiftclaw or-"

"Swiftmouth." Tideheart finished.

Swiftpaw glared at Tideheart. "Cinderstar wouldn't name me that!"

Will spoke up. "Could you be Swiftstar?" He asked.

Tideheart snorted. "Never. Only leaders become 'Stars."

"I could be leader one day!" Swiftpaw said defensivly.

"Yeah. And hedgehogs could fly." Tideheart said, finishing fitting a splint on Will's leg. "There! You're done."

"Great." Will said. "Thanks."

"Now what?" Swiftpaw asked Tideheart.

"He's coming into camp." She replied simply.

The two younger cats looked at each other. "What?" They said at exactly the same time.

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><p><strong>Yeah...This chapter turned out pretty long. Dang. Remember to review and I'll review one of your stories!<strong>


	5. Chapter 3

"What do you mean, he has to come into the camp?" Swiftpaw asked.

"He has to rest his paw, and, as it's going to rain soon, that shouldn't be out here. It might be different if we were short of prey, but it's only early leaf-fall, so that isn't an issue." Tideheart responded.

"But, what will we say to the Clan about him staying?" Swiftpaw asked. "Won't they be suspiscious of him?"

"Aren't they suspicious to all strangers? I'll explain the situation to Cinderstar. Under the circumstances, she won't say that he has to leave. As for what we'll say tgo the clan, we'll just tell them that you found himin the forest, hurt. He isn't really much of a threat. He's no older than you are."

"Hey!" Swiftpaw said. "I would, too be a threat."

"I'm sure you would be, but I doubt that you could stage an attack on our clan. Plus, Will isn't trained, so he'd be less of a threat than you." Tideheart turned and started toward the camp.

Swiftpaw looked at Will, a mischievious gleam in her eyes. She motioned with her tail for him to pounce on Tideheart. Will nodded, and the two of them leaped, landing on top of the gray she-cat and knocking her to the ground.

"Victory!" Swiftpaw said as she got off of the medicine cat. "See how much of a threat we'd be?"

Tideheart got to her feet. "I can picture it now. Swiftpaw and Will, taking down all of ThunderClan." She said sarcasticly.

The three of them proceeded into camp, where they were met with whispers and growls. Foxleap stepped in front of them. "Who is that?" He asked.

"That's Will." Swiftpaw said. "He's staying here." She said.

"Why should he stay here?" Foxleap asked.

"He's hurt! Tideheart says he needs to rest. Right, Tideheart?" Swiftpaw asked. The gray medicine cat was gone, though.

"Where did she go?" Will asked.

Then Cinderstar came out of her den, followed by Tideheart. She didn't have to call the clan together, as they were already assembled, so she immediately began. "As most of you have noticed, there is a strange cat in our midst."

Will flattened his ears at the way she worded it.

"His name is Will. He will be staying with us, as he has a broken leg that he needs to rest." Cinderstar said.

The camp went into an outrage. "He could be a threat!" One cat yowled. "We can't have another mouth to feed!" Came another.

"Your fears are not well-founded. He is barely old enough to be an apprentice! I'd like to see the day that an apprentice stages an attack against one of the Clans. It's only leaf-fall. We can spare the fresh-kill. Will is staying." She said, ending the meeting.

Swiftpaw turned to Will. "I guess that decides it, then." She said.


	6. Chapter 4

**Cheesypreistess—How do you explain Runningwind, then? They couldn't have known how fast he was going to be as a kit. What about Tallstar? They didn't know that if he would be tall. As for the Tideheart thing, I don't see how her name doesn't make sense. **

"Don't you get bored, just, sitting in here all day?" Swiftpaw asked Will. A quarter moon had passed since Will had first appeared.

"It's not _that_ bad." Will responded. "Tideheart sometimes gives me things to do."

"Such as?" Swiftpaw prompted.

"Well…Sometimes she has me sort herbs for her."

"Yep. So entertaining." Swiftpaw replied.

"Well doesn't it get boring for you, doing all the same things every day?" Will asked.

"I don't do the same things every day. Sometimes I go hunting, sometimes I have battle training, and sometimes I get to go on border patrols. Sometimes there are even battles." Swiftpaw added with wide eyes.

"Yeah, but doesn't it get tedious?" Will asked.

"No!" Swiftpaw snapped.

"Sorry…" Will said.

"Where did you come from, anyway?" Swiftpaw asked.

"If I told you the truth, it would sound completely crazy." Will said.

"I don't think anything would sound crazy to a kit who grew up on stories about _dead_ cats attacking all the Clans." Swiftpaw responded.

"I seriously doubt that." Will said.

"Come on, tell me."

"Okay…" Will considered how to start. "I used to be a twoleg. I broke my arm by falling out of a tree. One day, this guy, Horace was hasing me and he tackled me. We landed in a pond and then…I was here."

Swiftpaw looked at Will. "You are seriously insane."

"No I'm not. I told you that you wouldn't believe me."

"Very true. But if that actually happened, then where is this Horace?"

"No idea. I don't follow him around everywhere."

Swiftpaw looked at the ground. "I don't know if I should believe you."


	7. Chapter 5

**So, I'm loving the fact that Doc Manager now holds FIFTY documents at a time! Awesome. Something else that's awesome, Johnny Depp movies. My sister has taken it upon herslef to watch ALL of them. So far we've seen, Pirates of the Caribbean, Alice in Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands, Secret Window, and Sleepy Hollow. I'm sure most of you have seen the first three. Secret Window was great. Sleepy Hollow was suspenseful, gory, heck, it was even funny at some the headless horseman was pretty creepy.**

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><p>Will stared at Swiftpaw incredulously. "Are you kidding me?"<p>

"Why should I believe you?" Swiftpaw asked. "It only sounds _completely _crazy!"

"Crazier than a bunch of dead cats attacking the clans?"

"It _is _crazier than that!"

"Not really." Will hissed .

Swiftpaw glared at Will. "I _know_ that happened, though. There are cats in the clan who were there."

"Why do you believe them?" Will asked.

"Because they were there!"

"Were they?"

"Yes! Why would they lie?"

"I don't know. Why would I lie?" Will said.

Swiftpaw was at a loss for words. "You really aren't lying, are you?"

"Hopefully I'm not." Will said.

"So, why do you think you're here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Maybe…Maybe you've been reincarnated as a cat." Swiftpaw said. "Maybe your twoleg self is dead."

Will looked at Swiftpaw. "Why would you even say that?"

"It could happen. Besides, we're just throwing out ideas."

"Okay. Maybe your StarClan sent me here. Maybe I'm not _dead_."

Swiftpaw flicked her tail. "I never said that you were dead. I said that your twoleg self _could_ be dead."

"Yeah. I'd rather not think about that." Will said.

"Well, if StarClan _did s_end you for some weird reason, you can't just leave!"

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"You have to join the Clan!" Swiftpaw said.

"Is that allowed?" Will asked.

"Of course! You'll make the Clan stronger!"

Will stared at Swiftpaw. Searching her face for any uncertainty, but there was none. He sighed. "If you're sure that it's a good idea."


End file.
